Functional Trait Capacity: from observing biodiversity to predicting landscape capacity

Current biodiversity metrics describe what is present, but struggle with what landscapes could sustain under alternative management. We define Functional Trait Capacity (FTC) as the biologically admissible strategies remaining viable under specified landscape, management and time-horizon conditions. A synthetic demonstration shows that identical observed communities can conceal different capacities and that the same intervention can create different gains. FTC links biodiversity state to ecological mechanism and prospective management.